- Genre
- Mythological legend
- Source status
- folkloric
- Motifs
- dumplings, substituted food, wheel hub, rowan plugs
The story
A mistress kept three kaukai in her drying barn and fed them dumplings. A shepherd discovered the arrangement, ate the dumplings and replaced them with horse dung.
When the spirits returned, they tasted the food and argued. One thought it was dumplings; another recognised dung. The third proposed burning the barn to punish the household for failing to feed them.
The others asked where they would go during the fire. They decided to hide inside a wheel hub, then resume bringing supplies afterwards, expecting better food. The shepherd heard the whole conversation.
He cut plugs of rowan wood. When the kaukai started the fire and hid in the hub, he stopped its openings and threw the wheel into the flames. The spirits burned inside.
Reading the story
The shepherd replaces the food, but the spirits blame the household. Their revenge turns against them because their hiding place is overheard. The grim ending follows mistaken blame and a counter-trick.
Told by Stefa Radavičiūtė in Užgiriai; recorded by N. Vėlius in 1962, LTR 3574(128).
Source and retelling
Lietuvių tautosaka, IV (1967), Nr. 525, p. 537–538: „Sudeginti kaukai“. An original retelling of the recorded traditional narrative cited here. The sequence of events and ending are retained in modern language.